This invention relates to window-actuator drive units in general and more particularly to an improved window-actuator drive unit.
A window-actuator which provides up-down movement of a window is disclosed in the German C2-35 19 056. In the actuator, a worm gear driven by an electric driving motor is rotatably supported on an axle, which is rigidly connected to the gear housing. The worm gear is placed in a rotational-slave relationship with a drive member by way of a coaxial driving disk, likewise rotatably supported on the axle, through axially protruding cams. In this known drive unit, provided for a cable window-actuator, the drive member is a cable pulley with at least one winding having its free end looped around a closed rope eye. The rope eye engages with a driving pin provided for the windowpane to be raised or lowered. The cable pulley is connected through the driving disk to the worm gear in a rotational-slave relationship. A worm shaft, which is mounted on the extended rotor shaft end of an electric driving motor, mates with this worm gear. The electric driving motor is flanged on to a cup-shaped gear housing. An axle is secured to the base of this housing and both the worm gear and the cable pulley, as well as the driving disk arranged between them, are rotatably supported on this axle. To provide the rotational-slave relationship between the worm gear and the driving disk, the driving disk is provided with axially projecting cams, which extend into corresponding carrier pockets of the worm gear, while a damping separator is used as an intermediate gear. To provide the rotational-slave relationship with the cable pulley, an eccentric projection on the driving disk is used, which engages with a complementary central recess of the cable pulley.
In other known electromotive window-actuator drive units for so-called arm or scissors-type window actuators, a driving arm is provided with toothing and mates with a driving pinion of the gear unit of the window-actuator drive unit. It is a known procedure to connect the driving disk, which has a rotational-slave relationship with the worm gear, to an axle journal by means of cams, so that they interlock. The method used is similar to the one described previously for cable window-actuators. In this case, however, the axle journal projects through the base surface of the cup-shaped gear housing and is mechanically attached to the driving pinion.
Although these drives work well, there is a need to reduce the expenditure for components used in both cable window-actuators and arm or scissors-type window actuators. This should be accomplished by providing a simple design, which is particularly suited for automated manufacturing.